mecfs – Page 3 – Cornell Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease

NYSDOH Panel Session on ME/CFS in Age of COVID-19

Center Director Dr. Maureen Hanson will be presenting current scientific research on ME/CFS during a panel session hosted by New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH). The session titled “Scientific Research on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the Age of COVID-19” will be moderated by Dr. Charles Gonzalez. Dr. Ian Lipkin (Columbia University) and Dr. Avindra Nath (NIH) will be joining Hanson as panel presenters.

UPDATE: In case you missed the panel discussion, NYS DOH released a recording along with each presenter’s slides. Direct links to the recording and Dr. Hanson’s slides are below. Visit the NYS DOH ME/CFS website for more information.

Where do ME/CFS immune cells get their energy, or ale?

Jessica Maya, a graduate student in the Genetics, Genomics, and Development Program at Cornell University in Maureen Hanson’s lab, talks about ME/CFS, the immune system response, and the fuels that energize immune cells to properly defend the body. This talk was adapted from Cornell University’s 3 Minute Thesis Finalists Round Competition, where she was tasked to explain her thesis work in under 3 minutes in an engaging form that could be understood by an intelligent audience with no background in the research area.

The Enterovirus Theory of Disease Etiology in ME/CFS: A Critical Review

This methodologically focused review covers aspects of ME/CFS pathophysiology that are consistent with chronic enterovirus infection outcomes and then closely examines the technology used in in past ME/CFS publications to determine how rigorously the enterovirus theory of disease etiology has been investigated.

IACFSME Conference 2022

IACFSME held a virtual medical and scientific research conference on July 27-30, 2022. Our Center presented several talks and participated in the poster session at the conference. Center members Andrew Grimson, Arnaud Germain, Betsy Keller, Geoff Moore, Jessica Maya, and Katie Glass gave oral presentation on topics ranging from immune cell exhaustion to post CPET recovery. Postdoctoral associate, Ludovic Giloteaux, presented a poster on extracellular vesicle proteins in plasma. Details about the conference agenda can be found on the event’s website.

We would also like to announce that Candace Receno, a new collaborator at Ithaca College, and Jessica Maya received the NIH NINDS travel award at this year’s meeting. Congratulations to Candace and Jessica!

Survey of Anti-Pathogen Antibody Levels in ME/CFS

The Center would like to announce a serology publication that is open access in Proteomes.

This study, led by Adam O’Neal, analyzed plasma antibodies to 122 different pathogen antigens in a case-control comparison including 103 individuals. The cohort of 59 ME/CFS and 44 healthy controls included both female and male participants. The anti-pathogen antibody assays were performed by Augmenta Bioworks. Although this study did not find one particular pathogen associated with ME/CFS, sex-based differences were uncovered. Check out this publication (link above) for more information.

International ME/CFS Awareness Day 2022: metabolite disruption in ME/CFS

For International ME/CFS Awareness Day, we would like to announce the official publication of a large metabolomics study from our Center. The work led by Arnaud Germain, PhD, describes results from a longitudinal plasma metabolite study associated with a 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). Over 100 individuals, including both females and males, were assayed before and after both days of the 2-day CPET. The article is open access in the journal JCI Insight. The quote below, from this publication, does an excellent job at summarizing the study.

Our longitudinal study design has allowed us to identify a number of pathways that diverge between healthy individuals and those with ME/CFS 24 hours after an exercise challenge, at which time patients typically experience PEM. Inability to recover properly after exertion is one of the most disabling symptoms of ME/CFS. Our study provides insight into the metabolic changes that are inimical to proper response to physical effort.

ME/CFS Research Network Webinar Series: ENID Center Update and Panel Discussion

Organized by the Community Advisory Committee of the NIH ME/CFS Centers Network, Hanson’s overview of the ENID Center is followed by a panel discussion led by Susan Taylor-Brown, a patient advocate for our Center and member of the Network’s Community Advisory Committee. Andrew Grimson (single cell transcriptomics lead), Jessica Maya (immune cell metabolism investigator), and Ludovic Giloteaux (extracellular vesicles investigator) join Hanson and Taylor-Brown for a discussion of our research. Topics such as immune dysfunction, extracellular vesicles, and gene expression are covered in this video.

Maureen Hanson authors editorial on enteroviruses and ME/CFS

Published on August 12, 2021, Maureen Hanson wrote an editorial in Frontiers Science News that highlights the enterovirus theory of ME/CFS. Particularly, Hanson emphasizes that, “ME/CFS is neither a rare nor a trivial illness.” She provides insight into the potential link between ME/CFS and a chronic EV infection. This probable link was reviewed in detail in a Frontiers in Medicine June 2021 article by Adam O’Neal and Hanson. Hanson discusses the possibility that SARS viruses may be the second class of RNA viruses to cause a chronic illness, given the existence of “long COVID.”

Graphical representation of enteroviruses causing brain inflammation. Photo credit: Kateryna Kon (Shutterstock)

Metabolomics study shows disrupted metabolism of acyl lipids and steroids in ME/CFS

Dr. Arnaud Germain, a member of the Hanson Lab, is the lead author on a new publication in the journal Metabolites. The paper describes a metabolomics study on the plasma of 52 female subjects. A large emphasis on lipids was observed in the approximately 1,750 blood compound datapoints. As summarized in the illustration below, notable changes were uncovered when comparing the ME/CFS and control cohorts.

Germain, A.; Barupal, D.K.; Levine, S.M.; Hanson, M.R. Comprehensive Circulatory Metabolomics in ME/CFS Reveals Disrupted Metabolism of Acyl Lipids and Steroids. *Metabolites* **2020**, 10, 34.

ENID Center featured in Norwegian blog

Quote translation: “… how ME became the most contentious disease of our time”
Photo: De Bortgjemte (The Hidden)

A Norwegian blog, The Hidden, published a summary of our NIH funded research center efforts. The blog is by physical therapist and journalist Jørgen Jelstad. He covers various aspects relating to ME/CFS and has also reviewed the other two NIH funded research centers—Columbia’s Center for Solutions for ME/CFS and The Jackson Laboratory’s Collaborative Research Center. For an English translation of the website by Google Translate iTool, please visit this link.

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